This invention refers to an improved rear-view mirror for large vehicles, for example trains and trains which, operated by the driver, can automatically open or close onto the sides of the vehicle, movements which, furthermore, can be done in association with the opening and closing motion of the doors through which passengers board and alight.
The improved rear-view mirror for large vehicles, in general, applicable to all types of industry, is particularly suited for use with large vehicles and even more specifically for use in large vehicles formed by the joining of several units, such as, urban or suburban trams or trains in which it is necessary to watch the movement or access of people around the vehicle. It could also be used on buses, trolleybuses or other similar vehicles.
Rear view mirrors of this type should be designed or fitted with mechanisms which make it easy to access the inside for cleaning or maintenance, operations which require the intervention and control of the pneumatic circuits from the inside of the vehicle by authorised personnel, to facilitate the opening of the mirror, the normal position of which is folded against the vehicle. This intervention means that exploitation costs are raised because it requires extra time on the part of the maintenance personnel or the authorised personnel.
The current techniques applied in this type of rear-view mirror can be seen in Utility Model 9500741, by the same applicants, which describes a mobile rear-view mirror for large vehicles which can be turned automatically to place it parallel or transverse at the side of the vehicle, coinciding with the mirror""s positions of closed or opened respectively and which is made up of a case which holds the mirror, solidly articulated to a support fixed to the corresponding side of the vehicle. Furthermore the rear-view mirror has a rotating device fixed to the support, the axis of which is situated in the direction of the rotation axis of the case and on activating it, using an auxiliary control, the automatic turning of the rear-view mirror occurs, opening or unfolding on the respective side of the vehicle, with just a turn of the device needed for the rear-view mirror to be once more folded against the side, the position normally adopted when the vehicle is in motion. It also has a fixing mechanism which ensures the said folded position of the mirror with respect to the support and the side of the vehicle to which it is attached. The system designed in this way is expensive to manufacture and the turning device used even more so.
The aim of this invention is to perfect and simplify the rear-view mirrors of the type described and make them more economical with the use of a pneumatic cylinder of the so called linear type, simple or double effect, with which the mirror can be folded or unfolded quickly and easily, which results in improved operation at lower cost.
It is considered that said objective can be achieved with the entry of the improved rear-view mirror for large vehicles, which includes an articulated case which holds the mirror joined to the support which can be fixed to the corresponding side of the vehicle, with the case and the support joined by means of a pneumatic cylinder, the action of which provokes the automatic turning of the case on its support, from a closed or folded position against the same to an unfolded position, which coincides with open, or vice versa, and the essential characteristic of which lies in the fact that one end of the pneumatic cylinder is conveniently anchored in an articulated way to the case, while the free end of the piston is articulated to a projection on the support.
In addition, the invention establishes that the piston of the pneumatic cylinder has a prolongation directed towards the projection of the support upon which it moves.
It would also seem evident to underline that the opening or closing of the rear-view mirror would normally occur by introducing air from the pneumatic circuit of the vehicle, controlled from the dash board in the cab of the vehicle, although, of course this could be achieved in a different way if a different solution to the one described were desired.
It is, furthermore, evident that delimiters or detectors of the end of the line or any other limits would be incorporated, given that the opening or closing position of the case on the support should be regulated depending on the position of the driver in his seat.
To better understand what has been described up to now, we are enclosing a set of drawings with this descriptive report in which the preferred production of the object of the invention is shown, but in taking a decision it should not be considered that this is to be understood as a limitation of the graphic representation nor, of course, of the particular characteristics of this application.